Uncertainty hounds Kingfisher

Atul Shah is a frequent traveller with Kingfisher Airlines and holds a gold card of the airline. But despite his bond with the airline, Shah was seen worriedly asking Kingfisher staff at the Delhi airport about the status of his Mumbai-bound flight on Wednesday evening.

There are many others like Shah who reach the airport with a fear that their flight would get cancelled. “Are you sure that my flight wouldn’t get cancelled,” he asked twice to the person manning the ticket counter.

Although the number of passengers coming to book with Kingfisher is very few after the airline cancelled number of its flights in the recent past, those who are coming are concerned about cancellation.

“I mostly travel with Kingfisher but after what happened in last few days, I am a bit worried. My flight to Mumbai is delayed by 40 minutes but I hope it will take off. I have a good experience with the airline but last minute cancellation shouldn’t happen as it causes a lot of inconvenience to passengers,” said Shah, a resident of Mumbai.

The Kingfisher staff at the counter in the airport is flooded with queries related to flight cancellation. “We are getting very few bookings in comparison to past. Those who are coming here are more worried about cancellation. We had to convince them that their flight would take off. But in case of cancellation they shout at us,” said a Kingfisher staff, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, the employees of Kingfisher Airlines are in a tight position as on the one hand they had to bear the rudeness of angry passengers, and on the other they are not getting salaries from the airline on time.

“You need some motivation to work, but as of now we are in a tricky situation. Earlier, we used to get salaries before the start of the month, but for the past months salary is coming late. This month we haven’t received our salary yet and with the passengers bombarding us with questions, it is difficult to perform our duty,” the officer added.

Because of the delay in payment of salary, the employees also fear that they would be penalised by banks for being defaulters. “Most of us have taken loans from banks but for the past few months we are unable to pay the EMIs on time. We are looking for new jobs but in such a crisis situation it is difficult to get one,” said another Kingfisher staff.